SWISS parent company Lufthansa cuts 4,000 jobs

Lufthansa Group cuts around 4000 jobs Keystone-SDA

Swiss International Airlines (SWISS) parent company Lufthansa is cutting a total of around 4,000 administrative jobs by 2030. The majority of the cuts will affect jobs in Germany, as the Group announced on Monday.

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According to the company, this mainly affects administrative areas, while operational activities such as flight operations are not to be included. The move is justified with efficiency gains through digitalisation, automation and the greater bundling of processes.

Major fleet renewal

The majority of the jobs affected by the job cuts are in Germany. Lufthansa has announced that it will organise the process in consultation with the social partners. Group CEO Carsten Spohr emphasised that the aim was to make the company fit for the future and more profitable in the long term.

The Group also presented new financial targets: Between 2028 and 2030, Lufthansa aims to achieve an operating profit margin of 8-10% at EBIT level, generate a return on capital employed of 15 to 20 per cent and generate more than €2.5 billion (CHF2.33 billion) in free cash flow annually. To achieve this, the Group is focusing, among other things, on closer cooperation between the network airlines Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines and ITA Airways as well as the largest fleet renewal in its history with over 230 new aircraft.

Eurowings, Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cargo are also set to grow further. Eurowings is planning to expand its leisure offering and deploy new Boeing 737 jets, while Lufthansa Technik is expanding its business segment to include defence contracts. Cargo is investing €600 million in the expansion of the cargo hub in Frankfurt and wants to benefit from the demand in online trading.

Is the next pilot strike coming?

First, however, the management still has to deal with the threat of a pilots’ strike. The ballot of the Vereinigung Cockpit pilots’ union ends this Tuesday. It has called on its members at the Lufthansa core company and the cargo subsidiary Lufthansa Cargo to decide on industrial action. The point of contention is company pensions. Lufthansa had rejected the demands as unaffordable.

Adapted from German by DeepL/jdp

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